Hammer returning from the dead

[Sticker shock]

A while back I picked up a hammer skeleton that had a few zoa polyps on it from my LFS. I fragged the zoas off the base, but also left the skeleton in the tank in the hopes that my cyphaestrea would grow around it. So it's been in there now for maybe 3 months and I just took a close look at it again today. There are about 20 little polyps from the hammer starting to recolonize the skeleton. Some are growing out of the top and some are growing out the side. Will these all continue to grow as new branches? Or will the larger ones just sort of take over and fill out the skeleton? For now I've just moved it away from my cyphaestrea to allow it some space to grow out on it own.

 

[Auquanut]

Good question. 3 months is a long time, but not unheard of. I personally think they will form new branches, but really couldn't say for sure.